Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base

Updated 1537 GMT (2237 HKT) September 26, 2013

Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base6 photos

Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base – The collective noun for pandas is a sleuth, but perhaps a 'cuddle of pandas' is more apt. Fourteen artificially-bred baby pandas got camera shutters shuttering this week during a press conference in the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in Sichuan province in southwest China.

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Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base6 photos

Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base – Twenty panda cubs, of which 17 survived, were born between July and September this year. They are the newest additions to the 124-panda family at the Chengdu Panda Base.

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Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base6 photos

Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base – With less than 2,000 giant pandas in the wild population worldwide, the Chengu Panda Base (founded in 1987) rescued six giant pandas from the wild and have been increasing the captive population ever since.

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Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base6 photos

Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base – Best job ever? Breeders from the research facility say the eldest of the newborns, Meng Meng, weighs four times as much as the youngest, Ya Yi, who tips the scales at just under 700 grams.

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Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base6 photos

Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base – The endangered pandas are extremely difficult to care for at birth, with 60 to 70 percent dying within the first week. In the wild, newborns risk being accidentally crushed by their mothers.

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Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base6 photos

Pandas displayed at China's Chengdu Panda Base – Pandas struggle to procreate due to infertility issues. In 2009, with the help of In-Vitro Fertilization, China conceived its first test-tube panda at the Wolong research facility, also in Sichuan.